The Smoky mountains are on fire
We were in these mountains back in 2008. These are some pictures from our visit.
The aquarium is in danger- they have a generator that will give them 24 hours of power, but if the fire reaches it, all the animals will die.
Looking across Cades Cove- this is on the other side of the mountain, but per the website this area is threatened too.
all these historic buildings from the 1700/1800s that are all wood- could be gone.
the restaurant where we ate, near Dollywood are all gone- pretty much everything in this area is gone at this point
Downtown Gatlinburg is destroyed.
All of this area- the overlook we are on, the mountains behind have been burned in the fire
this area is gone
this is one of the pictures that came up today- 2 bear cubs trying to cross the road to escape the fire. There was nothing on the site that talked about the momma bear- I wonder if she has died in the fire.
I was planning on taking Rocket back here in the spring just for a long weekend. Now I wonder if hotels and such will be open. the land will be black and burned out, I know it will grow back eventually. Rocket might be able to take his kids one day and see the same scenery.
Adding to my sadness was the events at OSU yesterday. A crazy person (used generically, because why would someone want to kill another person), ran his car into a group of students at the campus and then got out of the car and started stabbing students with a butcher knife. The man was shot by campus police and died at the scene. So many of my friends have kids at OSU and my news feed in Facebook was awash with scared parents and people praying for safety. I am overwhelmed right now.
I think I might have to take a break from FB and the internet while we are on Christmas break. I can not take the sadness anymore.
thanks,
Deb
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